A little backstory. I’m F20 and have been dealing with acne for about 9 years now. I’ve tried everything and nothing has worked. Right now my skin is the worst it has been in a while. Acne has destroyed my self-confidence which affects basically my whole life and especially my self-esteem.
So my question is, how do I accept myself having acne and it not going away? How do I love myself and see myself as beautiful when I look in the mirror?
I realized I still thought someone was pretty, good-looking, beautiful, etc. regardless of what their skin looked like. I stopped being so harsh on myself after that. Acne doesn’t take away from your beauty:)
I went on Accutane when I was your age, and it changed my life.
It can be a pain in the butt to get and take, but for me, it was one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. I went from hiding inside, spending hours on useless skincare and makeup routines, and having no self-esteem whatsoever, to being able to do what I want, while wearing what I want, and not even having to think about it. And I haven’t even worn makeup in the 10 years since!
even though I’ve got a long way to go in terms of accepting myself, what has helped me is watching media where actors’ skin imperfections are left untouched. my favorite character at the moment is played by an actor who had acne while the series was being filmed and I find myself feeling better about mine when I think about how much I care for the character & actor so I have started to see that acne plays no part in my judgment and love for people and characters, and for those for who it does matter, they’re not the kind of people I would want to surround myself with anyway
I’ve also started to realize that the way we see ourselves in our bathroom mirrors isn’t how other people see us, the bright lights and close distance make the issue look worse than it is in reality, so it’s great to step aside from that as hard as it may be. it’s also helped to realize that I never even notice when strangers or people, in general, have acne and that when looking at anyone I’ve never thought that they’re ugly, I truly don’t think there’s no such thing as an ugly feature or person (on the outside, that is)
I wish you all the best on this journey. it’s not easy and it’s not short, but it’s so worth it - when you start going on it you’ll see your mental health improving rapidly and your general outlook on life-changing